The League of Nations was destroyed, or destroyed itself, over an African issue: the rape of Ethiopia, After Italy's successful aggression, unchecked by the two most powerful nations or the League, Britain and France, the League was a dead letter. The Second World War finally finished it off, as it ceased to meet. But the outbreak of the war made it even more necessary for the nations of the world to build an international organization for assuring world peace.

The United Nations was born in 1945, with the making of the United Nations Charter at San Francisco. But it had its origins in the Atlantic Charier of 1941, when the American President Franklin Roosevelt and the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met on a battleship off the Canadian coast and issued a statement of their hopes for the future of mankind.

The Charter, as a declaration of common Anglo-American principles, declared that the United Kingdom and the United States 'respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self-government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them'. This statement was taken by many people in the colonies as a promise of self-determination for them. But in the House of Commons Churchill was soon to disillusion attentive nationalists in Asia and Africa. Churchill said to the Commons: 'At the Atlantic meeting we had in mind, primarily, the restoration of the sovereignty, [and] self-government - . . of the States and Nations of Europe under the Nazi yoke... so that this is quite a separate problem from the progressive evolution of self-governing institutions in the regions and peoples which owe allegiance to the British Crown.'

President Stalin of USSR

But the Atlantic Charter certainly stirred the nationalist aspirations of politically conscious Africans, notably West Africans. In April 1945 the West African Students Union in London sent a demand to the Colonial Office for dominion status. A group of West African editors, with Azikiwe as leader, prepared a memorandum entitled "The Atlantic Charter and British West Africa', visited Britain, and asked for substantial political reform. And among the resolutions passed by the Pan-African Congress of Manchester in 1945 was one which demanded that 'the principles of the . . . Atlantic Charter be put into practice at once'.

 In that year of 1945 a new Charter was born - and this new United Nations Charter effectively replaced the Atlantic Charter as the ultimate documentary confirmation of the legitimacy of African aspirations. It is probably safe to say that African nationalists were less interested in the specific procedures for assuring world peace than in the reaffirmation of faith in fundamental human rights. But in spite of this limited or selective grasp of what the United Nations Charter was all about, the Charter did become a kind of documentary expression of natural law and a global Bill of Rights. By 1955, when Asia had achieved its independence and Africa was at its most militant in the quest for its own, the nationalists of Asia and Africa were still basing their demands firmly on the Charter. As the final communiqué of the Bandung Conference put it that year:

The Asian-African Conference declared its full support of the fundamental principles of Human Rights as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and took note of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations. The Conference declared its full support for the principles of self-determination of peoples and nations as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations and took note of the United Nations resolutions on the rights of peoples and nations to self-determination, which is a pre-requisite of the full enjoyment of all fundamental Human Rights.

The United Nations had by then become a liberating factor in practice as well as in principle. And it was involved in this process in two paradoxical capacities - in the capacity of a collective 'imperialist' with trusteeship responsibilities and in the capacity of the grand critic of imperialism at large.

On the Trusteeship Council and on the Colonial Committee of the General Assembly, the anti-colonial nations had a wide field on which to deploy their forces. These were not necessarily African nations. There were only four African member states of the UN in 1945, and these were the semi-colonial nations of Liberia, Egypt and Ethiopia, and South Africa, which had attained independence without attaining freedom. The anti-colonial nations in the UN were the super-powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, the Latin American countries which strongly supported the anti-colonial stance of the United States, and the newly independent nations of Asia, like India and Indonesia. The United Nations, then, acted as a powerful forum for Africa's nationalise struggle.

The United Nations in the post-war period was not merely a platform for the espousing of moral principles about Africa. Right from the beginning its Trusteeship Council had a practical job to do, in disposing of the former Italian colonies, which were at the end of the war, under British military occupation. In the event, the UN became the midwife of two new nations. Former Italian Somaliland 'was under British military administration from 1941 to 1950, when it was placed under the Trusteeship Council as a UN Trust Territory or Mandate, administered by Italy, which was instructed to prepare Somalia for independence within ten years- Italy was no longer under a fascist and imperialist government, but was a democratic parliamentary state. The Italians largely wiped out their notorious colonial record by initiating a crash programme to train administrators and by introducing representative institutions, and Somalia became independent in I960,

Libya had been an Italian colony from 1912 to 1940. From 1940 to 1943 it was a battlefield as Allied and Axis forces fought to control the approaches to the Suez Canal. In 1943 British military rule was established in the two northern provinces, Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, while the Free French, who had invaded from Chad, set up their authority in the southern province, Fezzan. In the years after the war there was a long debate among the powers about whether to split up Libya, which seemed to have no developed national feeling, into separate states, or to keep it united and put it under UN Trusteeship.

Finally, the UN decided to take over Libya and prepare it for independence, and it sent a commissioner, the Dutchman Adrian Pelt, to prepare a constitution. Libya became independent in 1951. Idris, the traditional Sanusi leader, was proclaimed king, and a two- chamber Western-style parliament was set up. Yet in practice Libya joined the ranks of the conservative, semi-colonial and poverty-stricken African states. It was sparsely inhabited, its vast oil deposits had not yet been fully discovered, and the United States maintained its Wheelus air base on the outskirts of Tripoli. The United States spent 100 million dollars in developing the base during the war, and had no intention of abandoning it during the post-war Cold War. Libya, indeed, was a convenient base for the United States' Mediterranean and Middle East policy of containing Soviet influence in these areas.

Jomo Kenyatta with Tom Mboya

The former Italian colony of Eritrea, the Red Sea coastal strip next to Ethiopia, was conquered by Britain from Italy in 1941. In 1950 the UN General Assembly resolved that Eritrea be federated with Ethiopia (which had regained its independence in 1941), but with autonomy. The federation took place in 1952. The Muslim majority in Eritrea was not, at first, against Union, though they were apprehensive about domination by a Christian and a feudal Ethiopia. Muslim separatist feeling in the autonomous province developed later as a result of Ethiopian misgovernment.

Yet the UN could become a midwife to a new nation only if the colonial power in the territory concerned was prepared to become accountable to the new world organization. For example, South West Africa or Namibia, at first a German colony, became a Mandate of the League of Nations after the First World War, and was handed over to South Africa as the administering power. But South Africa refused to recognize the UN's capability as successor to the League, because of the UN's espousal of the principles of self-determination and human rights. So Namibia, in the absence of a UN military force able to uphold the Organization's authority, in practice continued as a colony of South Africa.

The Role of the UNO in the growth of African Nationalism

In October 1945 shortly after World War II, the United Nations Organisation was born at San Francisco in U.S.A. It replaced the League of Nations, which had failed to keep world peace and had led to the outbreak of the Italian-Ethiopia War (1935-1941) and the 1939-1945 second World War. Its formation had profound effects on the transition of African countries from colonialism to independence.

It upheld the ideals of the 1941 Atlantic Charter. In 1941, off the Canadian cost in a battleship, F.D. Roosevelt and Churchill had declared their vision and intentions for a new and better world. This was contained in the Atlantic charter Article 3, which vowed to allow all peoples of the world to form a government of their own choice. When the UNO was formed, it adopted the Atlantic Charter and this inspired African nationalists to fight for their self-government.

The UNO set up a trusteeship council. This was to take care of the colonies that had belonged to defeated Germany and Italy for example Tanganyika, Libya, Togo, and Cameroon etc. Because these were United Nations trustee territories, they were carefully prepared for self-government. Officials from the U.N. constantly visited them to examine the progress of constitutional developments in those territories for example The UN trusteeship council sent commissioner Adrian Pelt to prepare a constitution for Libya which led to the quick independence of Libya in 1951 under King Idris.

The UNO's trusteeship official also made political reforms in Togo, Cameroon, Tanganyika, Somalia, Rwanda, and Burundi. Hence early and smooth independence in those countries.

It became a voice for the colonised. The UN members were aware that it was colonialism that had caused the disastrous 2^nd World War. To avoid the re-occurrence of such a war, the UNO became a good listener to the plight of the colonised.

In 1960, UN gave audience to the Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah who presented the grievance of the Algerians to the Un summit. Algerians had suffered French nuclear bomb tests in their country, not to mention other oppressions. Nkrumah's speech moved the UN members who condemned France, organised the inspection of Algeria and called for an urgent end to French colonialism in Algeria.

It set up a decolonisation committee. This was charged with the duty of working out strategies for the liberation of all colonised peoples of Asia and Africa. Officials of this committee, many of them African nationalists, moved to different countries that were still struggling for independence and made reports to the UN. Basing on these, appropriate action would be taken to speed up the decolonisation process in a given colony.

The U.N.O was not discriminative. It admitted African countries that were independent to the UN membership. These included Ethiopia, Liberia, Egypt, Morocco, and Libya. African Membership widened as independent countries also increased. At the UNO, there was no open discrimination and conspiracy against the black man as the case was in the League of Nations. This inspired nationalists to feel wanted and struggle for self-determination.

It issued the Universal declaration of human rights in 1948. This UDHR emphasized the dignity and equality of all human beings. It broadly defined as a person's political, economic, social, religious rights. This document became a consolation to all oppressed peoples of the world. They gained hope that since the UNO was concerned about the plight of the oppressed, it would fight for their independence. In South Africa, the ANC published the human rights Charter for South Africa.

The UNO recognised Liberation Movements in Africa. Where as the colonial masters looked at African nationalist groups as rebel movements, the UNO recognised them and allowed Liberation leaders to explain their grievances to UN members. Representative of the ANC in South Africa SWAPO in Namibia, Frelimo in Mozambique use this opportunity to condemn apartheid in South Africa countries. They were sympathetically listened to which gave them hope for example in 1966, the UN General Assembly recognised SWAPO as the true representatives of Namibia.

Asian countries in the UN defended African cause. The UN played a great role in the liberation of Asian countries. In turn, after obtaining independence Asian countries especially India used their position in the UN to advocate for the independence of African countries.

It effect economic sanctions against racist regimes. These included Ian Smith's Zimbabwe, South Africa and Portuguese colonies. Through these economic pressures, whites were eventually forced to respect African rights and independence struggles in those countries for example sanctions brought to an end the unilateral government of white minorities in Zimbabwe

It gave Military support to keep peace. In some cases the UN has sent its peacekeeping forces to bring order among nationalists and hence streamline the struggle for independence. In 1960, for example the UNO sent a peacekeeping force to Congo. This force helped to keep the country together and prevent secession. IT has also always sent forces in civil war torn places.

It gave constructive advice to nationalists. In 1964, the UNO advised Senegal and Gambia to remain as Sovereign States and avoid political integration that was likely to produce ethic conflicts.

UNO extended financial support to Africa. The UNO has since the 1940s showed economic interests in Africa but has also desired to promote the standard of living of African peoples. Hence it influenced the formation of an "economic commission for Africa" with its Headquarters at Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The aim is to fight poverty in Africa.

The UNO declared a 10-year period of decolonisation. To show its deep commitment to the independence struggle in Africa the UN general assembly declared the period between 1950-1960 as a decade of decolonisation. IT argued both the colonial masters and African elites to speed up the process of colonisation in the specified period. For instance, Somali land was put under the UN trusteeship council and was to be administered by Italy, which was to prepare it for independence within only ten years

The UNO helped in training African leaders. During the decade of decolonisation, the UNO trusteeship council embarked on manpower training in African territories. In territories under UN mandate, African elites were carefully introduced to political administration, budgeting. Who to handle diplomatic relation s and the like. The best example was done by Italians who wanted to compensate for their earlier harsh rule in the horn of Africa. I n Tanganyika, Rwanda, Burundi and Libya, the story was the same. The first president of independent Tanganyika benefited from the UN crash programme of manpower development in Africa. And he became a great man on African soil.

The UNO organised conferences between the colonial masters and their subjects. For example in 1974 the UNO organised a conference between Portugal and Angolan nationalists at Alvor. The UNO representatives called up Portugal to accept the wind of change in Africa or else risk international sanctions. The fruits of the Alvor conference were the independence of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau, which had been under Portuguese control.

The UNO gave support to African journalists. There emerged a number of newsletters, magazines and papers after the 2^nd World War. These helped to circulate anti-colonial propaganda and interestingly African editors like Namdi Azikiwe of the "West African Pilot" were given funds to keep informing Africans and the entire world about the progress in Africa.

The UNO was a good listener unlike the League of Nations. This new body understood its role clearly a voice of the small states. So it listened to the group of 77 less developed counties in the UNO and even gave them material support. The UNO never tried to marginalize them on the basis of their economic and military weakness

The UNO trusteeship prepared for the independence of Libya in 1951.

It prepared for the independence of Somalia - 1960.

It dispatched a peacekeeping force in Congo-Kinshasa in 1960

It granted independence to Togo in 1961 thus ending its trusteeship role there. In Togo the UN trusteeship council even trained African manpower.

It opposed the South African domination of Namibia and helped the latter to acquire independence in 1990.

It pressurised the release of political prisoners in South Africa such as Nelson Mandela who later led South Africa to real independence.

It placed Tanganyika under UN trusteeship and prepared her for smooth independence.

Prepared Libya for independence by sending Adrian Pelt to draw a constitution for her etc.